Employees are being asked to replace the office charity chocolates with fun runs to encourage a healthier workforce.

Public Health director Roscoe Taylor told a national workplace health conference in Hobart that Tasmanians will need to work for longer as the labour pool shrinks.

"The whole average age of our workforce is increasing along with the rest of the population and with that comes the risk of more chronic conditions affecting health," Dr Taylor said.

"For employers this is a bit of an issue because you can lose really valuable staff through illness."

He said businesses can start by making healthy choices easier in the workplace, such as replacing the charity chocolate drives with encouraging participation in fun runs.

''It's about having a kitchen where you can store food in the fridge so that people are less likely to go across the road and buy greasy takeaway.

"It can be about enabling physical activity either on the way to work or in the work, so things like showers and relaxed dress codes so people are able to wear the right footwear for moving around easily instead of feeling like they have to wear high heels if they're ladies."

Healthy mind 'as important as physical exercise'

But workplace wellbeing is described as more than just encouraging physical exercise.

''There's also the very important aspect of psychological health and wellbeing and having a culture that understands the real need for values in the workplace, that look after people," Dr Taylor said.

He said the message was getting through.

"I think in Tasmania we're witnessing a really incredible upsurge in interest, the workplaces in Tasmania have really thoroughly engaged with this," he said.

Lisa Burnell and her husband run Ronald Young and Co Builders in Hobart, employing 10 permanent staff and more than 70 contractors.

Since taking over the business three years ago, Ms Burnell has introduced a health and wellbeing program which includes checks for prostate cancer and high blood pressure to healthy eating competitions.

"We've had our staff that are working on construction sites send in photos of their healthy lunch, we've also had pedometer challenges with construction workers and office staff and we also have a running group that runs every Thursday," Ms Burnell said.

"Our staff have engaged with the program 100 per cent. My next challenge now is to roll out that program to our contractor workforce and have them healthier, fitter and happier at work."